Bitterness Returns
by Mark of Distinction
Summary: Satoshi has lived in the far reaches of the Forest of Death for years. But soon a blond ADD suffering ninja will change that...Resubmitted. I only own Satoshi. Ask for pairings, and I will consider. Rated T for safe-T.
1. The Awakening

**A Bitter Return**

Nekokyuurei: Hello, and welcome to my first Naruto fanfic. This will be a T rated fic just to be safe, but I have no idea at this point.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto. I, however, own Satoshi. One-Tailed-Shukaku had express permission to us my OC, so NO WHINING! I also do not own FFX or any nuances of it that may appear in this story.

Well, on we go!

The sun shone brightly in the Forest of Death. The Chuunin Exams were over for now, so the forest was miraculously quiet. "Good morning," Satoshi mumbled to a nearby hawk. The hawk was his, a friend when he had no other. "Heh, I guess I'd better get up, eh?" he said. A few minutes later, he had eaten, and he was off to do…whatever he wanted. He wasn't a ninja, at least, not anymore. Not since…"No, don't think about that." He shook his head. "I'm here now, away from them, from those prejudices…Ah well, best get to collecting the knives. This Exam was particularly productive, don't you think?"

In Konoha, the setting was much the same. People were awake and bustling about doing…whatever those villager people in the anime do. Naruto was going about his daily routine when suddenly…Disaster struck! "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M OUT OF MISO RAMEN!" Okay, not exactly a disaster, but you get the point.

Later in the morning, Team Kakashi was in Tsunade's office getting a mission. Naruto was still twitching from the earlier experience; Sakura was rolling her eyes, and WELL WHAT DO YOU THINK KAKASHI WAS DOING?! Tsunade was slowly getting ticked off. Finally, Sakura spoke. "So, what are we doing today, ma'am?" she asked. "Well, I have two jobs available. One is an escort mission, routine procedure. C rank. Then we have a B-rank mission-" Naruto interrupted. "We'll take the B-rank!" he said spontaneously. There was a BANG, and a shouted "OW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Sakura had hit Naruto into a filing cabinet. "Baka, we don't even know what it is yet!" Sakura yelled. "…As I was saying, the B-rank is a tricky little thing, but you can handle it," Tsunade said, and added under her breath "Maybe."

"This mission is to go and collect some medicinal herbs for the hospital," Tsunade continued. She paused as she waited for the expected outburst from Naruto. "WHAT?! THAT'S SO NOT A B MISSION!" he yelled. "Hold on, I didn't say where," Tsunade interjected. "They only grow in the deepest parts of the Forest of Death, about three miles into it." Naruto's eyes perked up. "We'll take it!"

In the evening, they were ready. They had packed supplies for the 2 day trip. Naruto had brought all of his ramen, despite Sakura pointing out they had no kettle. Kakashi had a simple backpack, and his book. Sakura had a tent, sleeping bags, and food. When night fell, they set off.

As night fell in the forest, Satoshi was getting ready for bed. He climbed into his loft in the hollowed out old tree he called home. The fire was doused, and he was soon asleep. Little did he know that three ninja were about to run right into his camp…

Well, how'd I do? R&R, flames will be used to start Satoshi's campfire. Come on, lets sing the Campfire Song Song! Oh? Maybe next time!

Ja Ne! Neko, out!


	2. Crash!

**A Bitter Return**

Nekokyuurei: Hello, and welcome to my first Naruto fanfic. This will be a T rated fic just to be safe, but I have no idea at this point.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto. I, however, own Satoshi. One-Tailed-Shukaku had express permission to us my OC, so NO WHINING! I also do not own FFX or any nuances of it that may appear in this story.

There was a crash outside. Satoshi, rudely awakened by the noise, rushed outside with his knives to see an odd trio of ninja. One was reading a book, and Satoshi could guess that it was not a Rated K book. Another had pink hair, and looked somewhat violent; maybe because she had her fist out and looked murderous. The third was wearing an orange and black jumpsuit, and currently had their head in a rock, something that puzzled Satoshi. They all jumped when he said coldly "Well I guess Konohagakure can't keep a promise after all. They said I could live if I left, but 'the Nightmare Child has to be put down' I guess."

Sakura had just punched Naruto into a rock, lodging him in there, because he had decided that she had gotten them lost, when he had the map. Naruto was still trying to get out of the hole in the rock, and he wobbled around tugging at his head. Kakashi was feeling a bit fed up, and had his nose buried in Icha Icha Tactics. All of them had been surprised and freaked out to see a 10 year old kid with silver hair with long bangs speak, and in such an icy tone.

Satoshi was further confused. The three had made no attempt to attack him, and the two with heads visible could be seen with shock on their faces. "What," he asked, "aren't you going to attack?" The pink-haired one said something like "He must be blind, eh?" to the one with the dirty book. "I most certainly am not!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I happen to 'see' that the one with his hitai-ate over his eye is reading some definitely inappropriate material, no doubt authored by that Jiraiya. He always did think he was younger than he was."

Naruto had managed to get his head out and muttered, "This kid hit the nail on the head all right. Ero-Sennin's a damned pervert." Sakura was staring at the kid like he was nothing special, assuming him to be a Hyuuga relative. "So what's your name?" she asked sweetly. "My name is Satoshi," he said calmly. "I'm Sakura, this is Naruto, and this is Kakashi. We're from-" Satoshi interrupted. "You're from my former village. I know from your headbands." Sakura blinked. "_Former _village? You mean you're a missing-nin?" The reply was blunt. "I suppose so, yes." Sakura sighed. "So we have to bring you back then." "No." "What?" Satoshi's face was ice-cold. "I will _never_ go back." Naruto felt curious. "Why are you against it?" "They shunned me. They said I was an abomination. They said I should never have happened." His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. Sakura was confused. "But why would they banish a Hyuuga?" Satoshi looked at her like she was insane. "Do I act like I have a 20-foot-long pole up my ass?! Them and the Uchiha; the arrogant bastards." Sakura felt hurt. Naruto felt ecstatic. "_Finally_ someone understands!" Kakashi looked at him tiredly.

Satoshi brightened suddenly. "But where are my manners? Come in; let me get some water boiling. I'll make some rice." Naruto practically jumped over the moon at the mention of hot water. "I can finally make my ramen! Hooray!" He dashed inside. Satoshi looked at the other two. "You guys have this weirdo to work with? Rough stuff. Come in." Sakura and Kakashi walked warily into the hole in the tree. They were surprised by the clean interior. There was a stove, a simple bed, a few cupboards. A workbench was set into a wall. Naruto was examining some knives on the rack. "These are new. If you haven't left the forest, how did you get kunai?" Satoshi took the knives from his pockets and laid the out on the table. "I scavenged them during the Chuunin exams. That Gaara of the Sand really is helpful. And of course I killed a few myself," he said nonchalantly. Kakashi looked up. "How?" "What?" "How did you kill them?" Do you really want to know?" Satoshi's fists clenched.

Outside, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi watched as Satoshi set up three dummies of wood. Then he transformed them into ninja replicas. "First, I used my simplest technique." He started making hand signs. Then he muttered "Nightmare Art: Demonic Blades!" He threw a kunai, and just as it hit, a cackling spirit appeared and rent the dummy in two. Kakashi's eye widened; he finally recognized the kid. He had been a Chuunin, en route to being a Jounin. He had been tasked onto filing birth records, and there had been one that had confused him. "Satoshi Nakamura," he said. Satoshi turned around in surprise. "How do you know my name?" he asked suspiciously. "I had an assignment on organizing genealogies as a Chuunin, and I happened to spot yours. You were a…unique child." Naruto and Sakura looked on as Satoshi quivered.

"They shunned me. They said I was a…a monster. I was forced out of the village when I was _8 years old_. I went here, set up my home. Here. In the Forest of Death," Satoshi hissed. Kakashi spoke again. "You were also known for being a Jounin at age 6, correct? I was still a Chuunin then." "You seem to be just like me, then." Satoshi turned towards Naruto. "I was shunned and treated like dirt, but nobody forced me to leave. Maybe because the Fourth told them not to, eh?" Naruto said. Satoshi raised an eyebrow. "Hmmm…You must be…" Naruto butted in. "I'm what, the Kyuubi's vessel? The town's screw up?" Satoshi continued. "You don't know your father, do you?" "No…" He grinned. "Well I do. You were 5 when I was born, but I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was 2. You were 7, and my cousin said something about 'the spitting image of his dad.'" Naruto's eyes grew wide. "You don't mean-" "Come on, do you think the Yondaime Hokage would choose a random kid to seal the fox in? You are the son of the Fourth Hokage, Naruto." Naruto's mouth opened and closed several times, but no sound came out. Then, he smiled, his eyes rolled in back of his head, and he fainted.

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Well, this took awhile. I started it just last night. Shortish chapter. Oh well. Ja ne! Neko, out!


	3. Death Glare

**A Bitter Return**

Nekokyuurei: Hello, and welcome to my first Naruto fanfic. This will be a T rated fic just to be safe, but I have no idea at this point.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Naruto.

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"Uhh. Where am I?" Naruto's head swam. "Sakura? Kakashi-sensei? Where are we?" Sakura looked up in surprise. "Oh! You're awake! You passed out. We're in the forest, remember?" Naruto thought-and then it all came back to him clearly. "Oh. The kid said something like 'you're the son of the-'" Sakura and Kakashi looked at each other. "Three, two, one…" "WHAT!?" Satoshi came in pleasantly. "You shouldn't bottle yourself up, Naruto. There may have been some people in Suna who didn't hear it."

"But, how- Why am- Huh?" Satoshi sighed. "I'm sure you are perfectly comprehendible to some mice. I am unfortunately not a mouse. Speak clearly." Naruto fumed. "How do you know this for certain?" he snapped. Satoshi sat down on the table, and without looking at Naruto said, "For the simple logic here: Would the Yondaime Hokage really have burdened another family with the Kyuubi? No. He would have chosen his own son. You." Sakura looked up thoughtfully. "Okay, so the Fourth only chose Naruto because he was his son? Seems plausible…" Kakashi was still speechless that Naruto had actually shut up for once. "Well," Satoshi yawned, "There's no sense sitting here discussing genealogies. Why are you here in the first place?" The other three blinked. Then Sakura remembered. "Oh! We were here to get some herbs from here." The silver-haired kid frowned. "Do you know the name?" "It was deadly something…"

The boy's eyebrows shot up. "Deathknot? Is that it?" Kakashi nodded. "Well then, you're in for an adventure. Deathknot is extremely difficult to find. Except for one place…" He shivered. Naruto was puzzled. "Where, and is it really that scary?" "Well, deathknot is a life-support herb, and it grows in places of darkness and pestilence. The Sunken Lab is where we need to go." Kakashi looked up, and Sakura and Naruto jumped. Kakashi's one visible eye showed surprise, apprehension, and shockingly, fear. "Is it absolutely necessary? I don't want to go there, not after the incident…" Satoshi gazed knowingly at the three. "Five years ago, there was an…experiment going on at the Sunken Labs. To try to augment life. There were chemicals of all sorts, many of them lethal. When ANBU learned of the lab here, they dispatched agents to shut them down. The chemicals were stored in steel drums and the lab sealed. However, two years after that, Orochimaru found the lab. He took several drums, broke more, and unsealed the lab. They managed to reseal the area, but not before virtually everything had mutated in there. Several ninja were sent to neutralize the threat. Only one returned, and survived long enough to say 'The experiment worked!' with a crooked smile before collapsing, dead. Since then, nobody goes there. Except me, that is." Naruto shuddered. So, these…things. What are they? How did they start? And how can you go in there and come out unharmed?" Solemnly, Satoshi gestured to Kakashi, inclining his head. Kakashi took a rasping breath, and began. "They say that there were scientists there, until the end. The lab was designed to be sealed on short notice, and unfortunately, most of the scientists were sealed in the lab with the drums. There was food there, and water, but when Orochimaru came, he experimented with the chemicals. And, naturally, he used the scientists, being on hand at the time. His first trials produced monsters, unspeakable mockeries of life and limb. But he perfected it, and soon he could produce effects. Useful effects. He used what Uchihas were in the lab, and made a different kekkai genkai, a variation of the Mangekyou Sharingan, almost. He might have used one of these for his next body, except the side effects were…unpredictable." Satoshi continued from there. "I was exposed to water containing some of those chemicals he used, just after I had left the village, and got a kekkai genkai. I was an ordinary child before that, and ever since then, I could use nightmares as weapons, tools, armor, anything. And I was pestered with the minor annoyance of being hated by the village. Discreetly, but hated nonetheless. The side effects of this kekkai genkai were that whoever looked at the person's eyes would be wracked with nightmares for two days and three nights, and finally, the worst nightmare would become reality, and suck the victim down to a pit so black it was darker than the underworld itself. Nobody knows the cure, so we who possessed the gift had to act as though blind, and keep our eyes shut. However, in other villages, there were often others. Less controlled others. Have you heard of the village of Akamegakure?" Naruto and Sakura shook their heads confusedly. "Of course you haven't. There's no such village. Not anymore, that is. Another one of us grew a lust for power, and when the Village of the Red Rain refused him the powers of their Scroll of Sealing, he leveled the damned place! Do you understand what I'm saying?! Even the weakest of us can wipe out ten or more Chuunin at a time, and uncountable Genin. The greater of us, me for instance, can destroy a village and its outskirts!" Satoshi's fists were gripping the table tightly, and then, he relaxed. "But you are different. Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Hatake Kakashi, you are all different. You know that we are people. We _feel_. We _think. _We are people, and not just tools. Orders do not supersede common sense, and you have your own mind. Keep that in there." Then, as if snapping out of a trance, Satoshi clapped once and said, "Well, long day ahead. Here, use the guest room." He opened a hole in the wall. "Goodnight."

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Thanks for reading, and as always,

Ja Ne! Neko, out!


End file.
